Thoughts on Life, Love, Politics, Hypocrisy and Coming Out in Mid-Life

Sunday, August 06, 2017

Dowd's Delicious Take Down of Trump vs. Mueller

Maureen Dowd has a wonderful way with words and one should never want to be on the receiving end of her sharp, but very accurate tongue. A case in point is her column that compares Der Trumpenführer, an amoral, narcissistic vulgarian, with special prosecutor Robert Mueller, a man who is the opposite of Trump in almost every way. Trump voters would do well to read the column, but, of course, they will not. Like the Christofascists who comprise so much f Trump's still loyal base, anything that challenges their simple minded beliefs must be ignored or derided as "fake news." The only thing fake is their claims of intelligence and true adherence to the gospel message. Here are highlights from Dowd's column:

As we contemplate crime and punishment in the Trump circle, it should
be noted that our Russia-besotted president does share some traits with
Dostoyevsky’s spiraling protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov.

Both men are naifs who arrive
and think they have the right to transgress. Both are endlessly fascinating
psychological studies: self-regarding, with Napoleon-style grandiosity, and
self-incriminating. Both are consumed with chaotic, feverish thoughts as they
are pursued by a relentless, suspicious lawman.

But it is highly doubtful
that Melania will persuade Donald to confess all to special counsel Robert
Mueller III and slink off to Siberia.

We are in for an epic clash
between two septuagenarians who both came from wealthy New York families and
attended Ivy League schools but couldn’t be more different — the flamboyant
flimflam man and the buttoned-down, buttoned-up boy scout. (And we know the
president has no idea how to talk to scouts appropriately.)

One has
been called America’s straightest arrow. One disdains self-promotion and avoids
the press. One married his sweetheart from school days. One was a decorated
Marine in Vietnam. One counts patience, humility and honesty as the virtues he
lives by and likes to say “You’re only as good as your word.”

And one’s president.

Trump biographer Michael
D’Antonio says the president has been lying reflexively since he was a kid
bragging about home runs he didn’t hit. He gets warped satisfaction from making
up stuff, like those calls from the head of the Boy Scouts and the president of
Mexico that the White House just admitted never happened.

He is never deterred by the fact that he can be easily caught. But
considering he survived the “Access Hollywood” video, it’s no wonder he has a
distorted sense of what is an existential threat.

Going hammer and tong after
hammer and sickle, Mueller has crossed Trump’s Red Line, using multiple grand
juries and issuing subpoenas in a comprehensive inquiry covering not only possible
campaign collusion but also business dealings by Trump and his associates with
Russia. The Times reported Friday that Mueller’s investigators had asked the
White House for documents related to Michael Flynn.

A White House
adviser told me recently about how scary Mueller’s dream team is, and how Jared
Kushner should be nervous. . . . . One lawyer helped destroy the New York City
mafia; another helped bring down Nixon; another tackled Enron; others are
experts on foreign bribery and witness-flipping.

Mueller is taken seriously as Mr. Clean Marine, a Republican willing
to stand on principle even against other Republicans, as when he and James
Comey resisted W. on warrantless wiretapping. Mueller is seen as incorruptible,
so his conclusions will most likely be seen as unimpeachable.

Trump
does not yet seem to fathom that Mueller is empowered in a way no one else is
to look at all sorts of things. This isn’t some tiff over a casino, where Trump
can publicly berate opposing counsel and draw him into a public spat. Mueller
won’t take the bait.

There may be no
more bizarre, byzantine mystery in the history of American politics than
Trump’s insistence on dancing with the red devil in the pale moonlight. Even
for this most unlinear, illogical, uninformed president, it is flummoxing.

[S]omething
happened to give him a Blame America First attitude when it comes to the
Russians. How transcendentally strange that the new president’s own party has
to help the Democrats box him in both on sanctions against the Russians and on
a measure preventing him from firing Mueller.

On Thursday, the president pout-tweeted that it was Congress’s fault
that “our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low.”
So he was blaming lawmakers who punished Russia for a cyberattack on our
election rather than blaming Russia for sticking a saber in the heart of our
democracy.

Trump needs to go and I hope the ever falsely pious Mike Pence gets caught up in the web of Trump's lies, deceit and possible treason. Both need to be out of office and preferably wearing bright orange jumpsuits.

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Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

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